But If He Doesn't

This is one of my favorite recent pictures of my dad. Thank you to everyone that has prayed us through these last few weeks. We love and appreciate you all.



I am a Bible story girl. From my earliest days, I was taught the stories of ordinary people that God used to do extraordinary things. Stories of miracles and city walls falling and giants and waters parting.

I believed those stories.

I believe those stories.

The story of David killing Goliath with one stone. Sarah having a baby as an old woman. God speaking the earth into existence. And then there are the three Hebrew children. You know them. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They wouldn't bow before the statue created by King Nebuchadnezzar. They were thrown into the fiery furnace. They survived it all. Not a singed hair. No smoke smell on their coats. The fire had no power over their bodies*. It's an unlikely story. And yet, it's true.

I love this story. I was reading it over yesterday morning and there were so many things that stood out to me, that excited me about the detail that is communicated in these verses. The faith that is exhibited. The deliverance that was experienced. The glory that went to the only one worth of it... God himself.

These three wouldn't bow to the giant statue. They were brought before the King, threatened with a fiery death, and this is what they said. (Bear with me, y'all. I am not going to preach. Probably. But you might need this as much as I do.)

Standing before an angry king that had the power to kill them, these three brave young men still said...

Our God is able to deliver us. 

Our God will deliver us. 

It is one thing to know that God is able to deliver. It is entirely another to know that God will deliver.

And then they said something that still sends shivers up my spine because of it's brazenness.

But even if He doesn't, we will not serve your god or bow down to your image.

But even if He doesn't. We won't bow.

We are almost to the four week mark of my dad being in a coma. He has suffered a brain injury after a fall that resulted in a skull fracture and bleeding in his brain. It has been the hardest four weeks of our lives, without question. With good reports, we have felt hope. With the negative reports, we have felt despair. There have been three separate times where the hospital called for us to come quickly because they thought he wouldn't make it. Each time we went and we prayed, sang, and read scripture, preparing for the worst and praying for a miracle. Each time, we experienced deliverance.

This morning, my dad is still alive. He is breathing on his own. He yawns and moves his mouth and his eyelids flutter. He stretches, and we see a change in his heart rate when we are around and talking to him. Some of the doctors and nurses are negative. They speak doubt and fear into our circumstances, and since they are the medical experts, it's difficult not to let their words sink into our hearts and settle there. It is hard not to bow down to the fear and uncertainty.

But like I said, yesterday I read Daniel 3. I read it out loud to my dad when I visited him. And God spoke directly to me through that story. We need deliverance. We are desperate for miracle. We are begging God for an awakening. For complete healing and restoration. For my sweet dad to have another 15 or so years of life and ministry. We want him back.

And the first part is easy.

Our God is able to deliver us. 

Of course He is. He is all-powerful.

The second part is harder.

Our God will deliver us.

That's pretty bold. But for the past couple of weeks, this is settled in my heart. I believe deliverance and healing is coming.

But the last part. The last part is rough.

But if He doesn't.

But if He doesn't, y'all.

If this confidence I feel in my heart proves to be faulty. If this deliverance and healing isn't earthly like I believe it will be. If God chooses to take my dad home to heaven.

We will not bow.

Not to fear. Not to despair. Not to unbelief.

But if He doesn't, God will still be God. All-powerful. All-knowing. Loving, compassionate, with new mercies every morning. He will still be ever present in our situation. It will all be for our good and for His glory. With my human eyes, I don't see how it will work. But I believe it.

I have so many friends right now dealing with hard things. These things have weighed heavy on my heart over the last few weeks. I am thankful that God has placed me here in this situation, where we are dependent on the prayers of other people, to remind me that other people are dependent on my prayers. And I have prayed. Some of these situations seem more impossible than others. But I am praying for a miraculous deliverance. You might need deliverance. You might need God to come through in a way that seems completely impossible. God is able. And he will deliver. But if he doesn't, He is still sovereign. He is still faithful. He is still good. He is still able to redeem your circumstance and use it to reveal himself to people who are watching you walk through it.

He is still God.



*If you need to strengthen you faith a little, turn to Daniel 3:27 and read about how they "saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power". Your fire has no power either. I mean, this whole chapter is so filled with good stuff.






Comments

  1. Excellent thoughts! He will deliver, Julie. We join you all in prayer for your Dad.

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  2. Such a tough lesson to remember. In the aftermath of my brother's suicide I wish someone had pointed this out. It was a long hard road to accepting God's sovereignty and faithfulness even in the face of such personal tragedy. You have been on my heart. Please know that prayers are going up for your dad and your entire family.

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  3. God is working in your heart..thank you for sharing your heart and TRUTH with us. Love-Dotti

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  4. Wonderful. So many are surrounding your Dad, the Doctors and the family with prayers!

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